


Horizon: Zero Dawn - A Novelisation

by AnarchyRules



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Canon Compliant, Gen, Novel, Novelization
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:09:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27729304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnarchyRules/pseuds/AnarchyRules
Summary: Aloy, a hunter in a world overrun by machines, sets out to uncover her past. Why did she grow up with no mother? Why does the voice want her dead? Why does an image of a long dead Old One look like her?A novelisation of one of the greatest game stories of all time.
Comments: 23
Kudos: 20





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is chapter is a prologue and as such it is much shorter than the other chapters will be. So, if you've seen how big the scroll bar is, don't worry, the other chapters will be longer. Please see the end for the rest of the notes.

**_Faro Automated Solutions_ **

**_November 03, 2064_ **

Ted Faro had always been aware of what many had thought was his greatest asset: his looks. He was, by any objective measure, an extraordinarily handsome man. He himself could see the evidence of that every morning when he looked into the bathroom mirror. Even at the age of fifty-one, he was a handsome man.

His plastic surgeons and nutritionist made sure of it.

However, while there had been days when those chiselled features of his had once impressed the woman in front of him, those days were long past.

The hologram of Elisabet Sobeck examined him coolly as he absorbed the statement she just made.

‘“Project Zero Dawn?” he exclaimed with horror. ‘Jesus, Lis! There has to be another way.’

‘If there were a nicer way to fix your mess, I would have proposed it.’ There was no emotion in her voice.

Faro blanched at her tone, or lack of thereof. ‘But this?!’ he sputtered, becoming increasingly more agitated. ‘This?! When I asked you to find a cure, I didn’t expect it to be worse than the disease!’

Sobeck’s intelligence dwarfed Faro’s the way as a sun would dwarf an atom. She had already run all possible scenarios, came to the one solution that would work, and had dealt with the horror of her decision in the time it would take most people to choose what drink to have with their meal.

The intelligence of Elisabet Sobeck. Her gift, her curse. She knew exactly what to do and how much time she would need down to the second. She could _feel_ those precious, irreplaceable seconds escaping her as she looked at this frightened man.

‘It’s not, Ted,’ she said, using the tone one would use when talking to a particularly stupid child. ‘It may be grim, but it’s our only chance. Now sign the proposal.’

‘Sign it? I can’t sign that!’ he protested. He was trying to look away, hide his face, but those accusing eyes kept finding him.

‘Yes, you can.’

‘That?’ Faro demanded. ‘Lis, I cannot in good conscience sign that!’

Sobek’s patience died. ‘You’ve got a choice, Ted-’ she began.

‘I know!’ He was going to say more but her eyes flashed, intimidating even through the hologram, and he shut up.

‘I am speaking to you from a VTOL en route to U.S. Robot Command! In fifteen minutes, I meet with General Herres and the rest of the Joint Chiefs!’

‘… What? Are you crazy?!’

Faro had immediately cottoned on to the implied threat but Sobeck spelled it out for him so he would know that, for possibly the first time in his entire life, there were consequences for his actions. ‘Now your choice is what I tell them. Sign, and I’ll tell them the wealthiest corporation on Earth has guaranteed the funds necessary to build Zero Dawn exactly as I’ve designed it. Or don’t sign- and I will make sure they and everyone else on this planet knows the real cause of the glitch.’

She was taking about throwing him to a literal lynch mob and she said it so casually that she might as well have been discussing the weather.

‘Jesus, Lis! You don’t have to threaten me.’ Faro seemed to shrink into himself. ‘I’ll sign.’

Sobeck’s lip curled in an ugly, triumphant snarl. ‘Look on the bright side, Ted.’ She made his name sound like a curse that would have made the bluest of blue-collar workers blush. ‘From here on out you get to do what you’ve always been good at. Footing the bill while others get their hands dirty.’

For Faro, the whole world seemed to consist of only her eyes, her lips, and the screen with the contract awaiting his signature.

‘God forgive me,’ he whispered as he signed. He looked up but, having gotten what she needed, Elisabet Sobeck had already ended the call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, as the blurb said, this is my attempt at writing a full novelisation of this wonderful game. I love story based games but sometimes, I just want to enjoy the story without having to get to a specific point in the game. This is especially true with this game. However, since there does not appear to be an official novelisaiton in the works, if I want one, I have to write it myself.  
> This is going to be a manly straight adaption of the source material, although I may add the occasional embellishment if I think it is necesary for the story in this new medium. Since i can't use all of Aloy's choices (Compassionate, agressive, and logical), I will try to use whatever I think will make a better story, rather than the choices I made when playing. If you have your heart set on a particular choice, however, feel free to mention it in the comments and I'll consider it.  
> Also, while numerous side quests are wonderful in an open world game, they aren't great for pacing in a novel, so I won't be including all of the missions in the game. I will mainly write the essential ones as well as ones that develop Aloy's character or the world in general. So, while we won't be seeing Aloy tracking down company mugs... ah, sorry, "Ancient vessels", we will definitely see her helping save Olin's family and so on.  
> I'm aware that this will be a long-term project so please be sure to let me know if you like or hate it or have any kind of reaction to it.


	2. Happy birthday Isaac

Spring was still clinging to Winter’s chill and Aloy’s breath turned to mist. But the cold didn’t bother her. After all, this was too important a day to let a little thing like the temperature stop her.

Today, she was going to talk to the strangers.

Of course, Rost had warned her to stay away from the strangers many times but, at six years old, Aloy reasoned that as she was now almost a grown up, she could make her own decisions.

She had watched them for the past three days, hiding in the nearby shrubs. Every morning, once the sun was well and truly up, the tall woman and the children would leave their walled village, cross the river, and pick berries from the bushes that grew there. The children would never collect a huge number of berries, often no more than ten, but the woman would accept their paltry offerings with a warm smile and praise.

‘My, my, that’s a lot of berries,’ she would say or, ‘Just a few more like that and we could feed the entire village for a month.’

When Aloy first the woman’s voice, the warmth, the love it contained, she wanted to cry. While she loved Rost, he had never been one to waste words and would certainly not do so on something as extravagant as praise. Had she just not managed to impress him the way that the other children had impressed the woman?

No matter, Aloy had a plan. She knew that the other children did not gather many berries, preferring instead to play in the grass. But they always pleased the woman with what they did. So, Aloy had spent the morning gathering so many berries that her tiny hands could barely contain them. She was going to give them to the woman and when the woman became very impressed with what she had found, she could then talk to the other children.

Maybe they’d let her play with them after they had all collected some berries.

‘Oooh, that’s a lot of berries,’ said the woman as a little blonde boy deposited his berries in the basket. ‘You are quite the gatherer, aren’t you, little Bast. Now go and see if you can find some more. Well done, that’s a good boy.’ The boy smiled victoriously and scampered off to find more.

This was it.

Aloy’s knees were shaking but she knew it was going to be okay. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, just like Rost had taught her when she had been plagued with bad dreams.

Smiling shyly, she approached the woman and held out her bounty. ‘I-I found these,’ she chirped.

Something was wrong. The woman wasn’t smiling. If anything, she looked scared, no, _furious._ ‘Children, come with me,’ she said quickly, ushering the children behind her, caring not for the berries she was scattering from her basket.

Confused, Aloy still held out her berries. What had she done wrong? Had she made the other children feel bad because she brought in more berries than they had?

The woman was talking again. ‘She’s an outcast, to be shunned.’

 _Outcast?_ What did that word mean?

Most of the children followed but the blonde boy lingered, staring at her. Aloy did not know many facial expressions as Rost kept his feelings to himself, but she knew enough to know that she did not like the way he was looking at her.

The woman finally noticed to boy’s hesitation and grabbed his arm. ‘Oh, come on,’ she said, not looking at the filthy outcast.

Aloy’s fist tightened around the berries and dark purple oozed through her fingers. She was breathing faster now, and she hurled the ruined fruit to the ground. Despite the cold, her eyes burned furiously but she wasn’t going to cry in front of _them._

She turned back to the shrubs from where she had emerged and ran, not caring for any destination, just so long as it was away from _them._

She pushed her way through the thorny brambles blocking her away, ignoring the cuts forming on her skin. A stubborn bush was blocking her path. Normally, she would have just gone around it but today she wasn’t going to back down to anything, even a plant.

With a fierce howl, she charged at the offending plant, only for her rage to change into confusion and then fear as she realized that there was no solid ground behind the bush, only a virtually sheer drop.

She bounced against the cliff face as she fell only to land in the frigid waters at the bottom. The water was deep enough for the fall not to kill her but not so deep that it wouldn’t hurt. She plunged through the water before slamming hard into the stone floor beneath it.

She kicked off from the ground and dragged herself out.

While Aloy had not broken anything, the fall had hurt her enough to momentarily drive the previous encounter from her mind. No longer consumed by a fierce sense of injustice, Aloy knew that she was in very real danger.

She looked up at the light shining down into the cavern and cried out, ‘Rost! Down here! Rost! _ROST!_ ’ She was now crying with the terror that can only be felt by a six-year-old when she is on her own.

_Stop that at once. You can feel sorry for yourself when you are out of this. Right now, you have work to do._

She could hear Rost’s words so clearly that he may as well have been down there with here. The world was a harsh, cruel place and, even at such a young age, Rost was teaching her how to survive.

His words, real or otherwise, were right. She had work to do.

She looked at the cliff face and realized within seconds that she had no hope of climbing back up. Should she stay where she was, calling out until Rost heard her? He would surely be looking for her by now.

 _He won’t hear me,_ she thought to herself, _so I have to move._

She examined her surroundings. ‘Some kind of cave?’ she said out loud, only so she could hear a voice, any voice. Weak sunlight filtered in through the shrubs from above, bouncing off the water to form moving patterns on the stalactites and stalagmites in the cave. Aloy knew that stalactites and stalagmites were pointed growths, one from above and one from below, but she did not know which was which. The water continued on deeper into the cave and she could see light coming around the bend. With no other options, Aloy followed the water.

As she came around the corner, a fierce gale of wind whipped at her, chilling her already wet body, and a flurry of bats flew past her, their leathery wings beating against her.

She hugged her chest and pushed her way through.

There was another gap in the cave’s ceiling, letting sunlight pour in. In the light, Aloy was able to realise that not everything in the cave was natural.

The walls were too straight, there was a railing leading down a flight of stairs, and there were random blocks placed all throughout the chamber. Nearly everything was made of metal.

Aloy had lived in a world of greens and browns her whole life. The fact that so much processed metal could exist in one single place was alien to her. There was only one type of place that could look like this.

‘This must be a ruin of the Metal World! One of the old places…’ Aloy knew that she was supposed to be afraid. The ruins of the Metal World were cursed, forbidden places but Rost had never explained why.

She wanted to see more. Besides, she could always tell Rost that she was only looking for a way out. That wouldn’t even be a lie.

Not really.

She made her way through the labyrinthian place that was the Metal World. Stalactites and stalagmites forced their way through the ceiling, walls, and floor. Stagnant water pooled on the floor throughout, giving off a foul smell. The whole place was cold and dead.

But not particularly dangerous yet.

Aloy could not imagine why someone would want to stay in the Metal World. It was, after all, quite unpleasant and nowhere as interesting as she had hoped.

However, there were no Old One ghosts leaping out at her, no spectral voices cursed at the trespasser, nor was Aloy feeling her body crumble away for standing on forbidden ground.

The worst that anyone could say about the Metal World was that it was just kind of boring.

Okay, at least this newest room was a little more interesting. The roots of a tree had forced their way through the ceiling, letting in more light from above. The light landed on a… what was that? Could it-?

‘A dead person,’ Aloy breathed in quiet, horrified fascination.

The body was long dead and in a state of partial fossilisation. His (she guessed) clothes were colourless and clung to the carcass that was so hard it may as well have been carved from stone. Its right arm was raised, forever frozen, as though trying to ward something off.

 _Hang on._ That _looked odd._

There was a small metal triangle, about the size of an arrowhead, stuck to the side of the dead man’s head, just above his right ear. It took Aloy a moment to realise what made it stand out.

It was shiny.

While the metal of the walls, doors, railings, and furniture had all become rusted and muted with time, the triangle looked new, despite staying on a dead man’s head, exposed to the elements for who knew how long.

Wait, no, it wasn’t just shiny.

It was _shining._

A small line, running down the middle of the triangle was glowing with some sort of unnatural light.

Was light one of the Old One spirits? Was it shining because she wasn’t supposed to be here?

With cautious hands, she reached for the object, her fingers touching the cold metal.

She flinched in shock before realising noting unexpected had actually happened. The metal came off the body’s head with no resistance when she pulled.

She wasn’t sure what she was expecting. A screaming voice or a fierce gale blowing through the cave.

Just something to justify the many warnings about these places.

She felt the unblemished piece of metal in her hand. While it should have been cold, it felt almost… _warm?_ And there was a faint sense of motion coming from it, almost as though the triangle was humming.

What was it?

The dead man had kept it attached to the side of his head, the “arrowhead’s” point facing the same direction as his eyeline.

Aloy gingerly fingered the item, turning it in her hands, before mimicking what she had seen, and placing it near the side of her own head but hesitating to actually let it connect to the skin-

_VIRRRRRRRR!_

The item had leapt from her hand, sticking to the side of her head, and she could hear this strange sound, as though it were emanating from within her skull.

She frantically yanked the thing from her head and hurled it to the ground.

Breathing heavily, she looked at it, backing away slightly.

Rost was right, this place was cursed. There was no way that sound could ever occur naturally.

But what was it?

Aloy could have just left it there and looked for a way out. That would have been the sensible thing to do… but she kept looking at it.

Crouching, she waddled awkwardly over to where it had fallen. Curse or no curse, Aloy was simply incapable of letting her curiosity remain unsatiated.

With barely a second to think about what she was doing, Aloy placed the object, just above her ear, forcing herself to remain calm.

Once again, it leapt from her hand of its own volition and attached itself to her head.

_VIRRRRRRRR!_

She surrounded by an intangible dome of purple webbing. The seemingly randomly placed blocks were suddenly shining, almost incandescent with the same otherworldly, purple light.

‘Lights, everywhere,’ she breathed, more in wonder than fear. ‘How does it do this?’

A section of the wall nearest to her was illuminated with the purple light and Aloy, after noticing a slight depression, realised that it was in fact a massive metal door. In the centre was a bright red ring, made of the same intangible light as the purple.

_Maybe this device I found can help? How do I get it open?_

To the right of the door was a metal box, glowing with the purple light. Instead of a red circle, the box had a blue circle with a section of red forming the top quarter. More purple lines connected that circle to the one on the door.

Aloy reached for the blue circle and it reacted to her touch, spinning around until it was upside down.

The circle on the door briefly changed blue before opening with a strange chirping sound.

Emboldened by her success, Aloy entered through the newly opened doorway only to see another dead body slumped over a moss-covered table. His head was bearing a similar device to the one now sitting on her own head. However, in this new purple world she had found herself in, the device was shining ever brighter, surrounded by a light forming a blue circle. She looked at it closer and-

_VIRRRRRRRR!_

_‘You think I want it this way?’_ Once again, the sounds felt as though they were coming from within her head. Suddenly, a man of purple light was kneeling in front of her, still speaking. _‘It’s the best I can do, he’s right behind you.’_

Surprised by this sudden apparition, Aloy darted back, but not so far that she couldn’t still see him. The man smiled and waved at her. ‘ _Hi!_ ’

He was talking to her? Aloy looked over her shoulder but couldn’t see anyone else. _‘Happy birthday Isaac! Daddy sure does love his little big man._ ’ The man was smiling but it seemed strained, like he’d just bitten his tongue but did not want anyone else to know. _Look, Daddy can’t be there with you and mom, but... We, can still have a party, right? Sure we can.’_ The man put a small pipe into his mouth and blew it.

_BRRRRRRRR!_

It made such a funny noise and then the man laughed.

‘Show me… Show me again!’ Aloy asked, exhilarated by this new phenomenon.

Tracing the purple webbing, Aloy raised her hand and waved it to the left and watched in delighted fascination as the man reversed, and he was talking again.

_‘Hi! Happy birthday Isaac! Daddy sure does love his little big man. Look, Daddy can’t be there with you and mom, but... We, can still have a party, right? Sure we can.’_

‘Happy birthday Isaac,’ Aloy echoed happily, ‘Daddy sure does love his little big man.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It occurs to me that I may not give the authors of novelisaitons enough credit. It is ridiculously difficult trying to describe holographic lights and electronic sounds from the point of view of a girl who is from the equivalent of the stone age and who has no knowledge of these things. I hope it wasn't too awkward. If you liked this, please feel free to leave a comment and I hope to get you an update soon.


	3. The Room of the Dead

Aloy giggled as the man of purple light blew his funny little horn and danced about in front of her. She replayed the sequence three more times, responding when he said ‘hi’ and laughing along at his dance. Aside from Rost, no adult, no _person_ , had ever looked at her without revulsion. This man was the first other person in six years to look at her as though she mattered.

Even if she knew that he wasn’t real.

Eventually she knew she had to move on, and she squeezed her tiny body through the gap in a partially closed door.

The world was so different now. Instead of the dark greys of the stone and metal, Aloy could see patches of purple light. While she couldn’t understand why, Aloy _knew_ that it had something to do with the strange device now stuck to the side of her head. The purple light concentrated around doors and strange boxes on the ancient tables. The only time Aloy had ever seen lights like these were on the machines that grazed near the hut she shared with Rost.

‘Maybe they’re different kinds of machines,’ Aloy said out loud. ‘Old machines.’ Of course, Aloy knew that speculating about the Metal World and machines was strictly forbidden but she was not going to let some stupid rules get between her and mystery that needed solving.

There was another body, slumped between what appeared to be two metal tables. The corpse was holding something in its hand but Aloy didn’t recognise it. He too was surrounded by that purple light and there was a blue circle on the side of his head surrounding another metal triangle. The same kind of device that she was wearing. Aloy focused on the circle and-

_VIRRRRRRRR!_

Aloy could hear another voice but, unlike the man with the funny horn, his voice was harsh, bitter. _‘I saw them lining up in the community room... like cattle in a slaughterhouse, but smiling at each other... Chana handing out meds like being alive is just some kind of... pain to be eased. Well... not me. I don't want to go quiet. I don't want to go quiet. I don't want to trail off. I want a period at the end of my life sentence, not an ellipses. Hell, an exclamation mark. So if that upsets whoever finds this, too bad. I don't owe anyone anything anymore.’_

Immediately after the voice finished talking, there was a loud cracking sound, like thunder but somehow more frightening, more sinister. Aloy jumped back and looked at the body. She did not know how she knew this, but she _knew_ that whatever made that sound had turned the speaker into the corpse in front of her. She shivered before climbing a set of rickety, rusted stairs.

It was something about these devices. Somehow, they were able to capture moments in time. A voice here, a face there, memories that the Old Ones were determined would outlive them. It did not seem possible but Aloy was not one to doubt the evidence of her eyes.

The room she entered appeared to be some sort of dormitory with twelve bunk beds. Each bed had a body lying on it. Some of the bodies had the metal triangles on their heads, creating that circle of blue light for Aloy to find. Others had similar looking devices on side tables that were larger and rectangle shaped.

Aloy looked at all of them, listening to the voices buried within them but understanding very little of what they said.

_‘Might've been worth it if Skylar had gotten drunk again, but... I seem to be a mistake she doesn't want to repeat…’_

_‘...the earth shall soon dissolve like snow... the sun forbear to shine... but God, who called me here below... will be forever mine.’_

_‘Why didn't I go with Owen when he asked? Stupid. I should have gone. Well…’_

_‘Like I haven’t done enough for posterity. Posterity can go f…’_

_‘… and pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our debt, I mean death. Sorry, it’s been a while and hoo, these meds Chana gave us are really something.’_

_‘That moment the door opened and you were standing there, wearing that retro-weave dress, and the way you smiled... I had to look away or you were going to see. On my face. What had just... blossomed inside me, you know? Ha. It was just an instant, but I knew. I knew we'd be forever.’_

She did not know why but Aloy was crying. The last voice, a woman’s, contained more pain than Aloy knew a voice could hold. The woman hadn’t been crying but she sounded like she was somehow beyond the need for tears.

‘What happened to you all?’ Aloy asked the room, feeling so small, buried under the weight of the shattered dreams and defeat of the dead bodies. She looked at the last body, the one that triggered her tears. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said lamely, knowing that, wherever she was, the woman was beyond her words. ‘I hope that she knew.’

She didn’t know how long she stood there until a sound broke through her reverie. ‘…. _oy! Aloy!_ Are you down there? ALOY!’

Freed from the dead voices, Aloy whipped her head in the direction of the sound. ‘Rost found me,’ she whispered before yelling, ‘Down here! I’m coming!’ She rushed through to the other side of the room and could see sunlight pouring into the next one. The roof had collapsed, forming a ramp out and, at the top of the ramp, waiting for her, was Rost, his hand outstretched.

Rost was a giant. Not just because, at six foot four with shoulders nearly as broad as a bear, he physically towered over Aloy’s tiny, little form, but because of no matter how dangerous the world was, he would always put himself between her and whatever might harm her. When she was a baby, he would sing to her sleep, his laughter shook the hut when she took her first steps, and she spoke his name as her first word, he nearly cried with joy.

Despite his fearsome appearance, with his clothing made from boar skin and machine hide, his long braided brown beard, and blue stripes tattooed across his face, Aloy knew that no-one else in the world could ever be kinder, more caring than Rost.

The only time that she felt he wasn’t on her side was when they disagreed about the “rules.” There were so many times when Aloy would ask why so many things were “forbidden.” Why was the Metal World forbidden? Why were they not allowed to learn about the Old Ones? Why was she Outcast?

No matter how many times she would ask, he would only answer with some variation of ‘because All-Mother wills it so.’

It was their one disagreement, the one time that they would probably never see eye to eye but Aloy did not let that blind her to what he was to her.

He was her teacher, her protector, and guide through the world. It didn’t matter at all to Aloy that he wasn’t actually her father.

Rost was Aloy’s whole wide world.

‘Come, girl,’ he said, the relief evident in his voice, ‘Take my hand. You don’t belong down there! Come!’ She reached for the offered hand and his strong grip hoisted her out of the Metal World and back into the green world she knew. After making sure that no harm had come to the girl, Rost forced the tender concern from his face, morphing it into a stern expression. ‘Such places are forbidden, Aloy.’

‘I fell in,’ Aloy shot back, defensive. What was he mad at her? It wasn’t her idea to fall through a hole in the world.

‘They are of the Metal World-’ Rost continued, ignoring her outburst before pausing and peering at her. The sunlight was reflecting of something on the side of her face. ‘What is that on your face?’

Aloy turned her head and covered the device with her hand. ‘Nothing,’ she said, wincing. Even at six-years-old, she knew she did not sound at all convincing.

‘Did you find it down there?’

‘No.’ Aloy didn’t care that he wouldn’t believe her.

Rost held out his hand. ‘Give it to me.’

She shook her head defiantly and pulled away when he reached for it. ‘No!’ she said emphatically.

‘Aloy,’ Rost insisted, ‘Such things are dangerous!’

‘ _NO!’_ she shouted, more stubborn. She was no longer hiding the device; her hands were at her side. She ran back several steps, turned around, planted her feet firmly in the ground, and looked him in the eye defiantly.

Rost glared at her before his face softened, not smiling but not angry. He picked up his spear which he had dropped upon seeing her. ‘Well, it you’re going to go sneaking away from home,’ he said finally, ‘You’re going to know how to survive in the wild.’ He started walking in the direction of their hut. ‘Come, Aloy,’ he said without looking back, ‘Home now! But,’ he looked over his shoulder at her, ‘starting tomorrow, you will learn how to hunt.’

All defiant anger was immediately forgotten. He was finally going to teach her. She had been pestering him ever since she was four, but he would always say that she was too young. She grinned excitedly and hopped after him. ‘Wait up!’

Rost sighed.

Had he done the right thing, letting Aloy keep that strange device? Relics of the Metal World were forbidden for a reason; to protect the Nora from suffering the same fate as the Old Ones. And yet he let her walk away with it.

With one exception, Rost had always followed the Tribe’s rules and customs without question. They protected the Nora from an uncertain world. But, in his heart of hearts, Rost knew that those rules had only ever taken from Aloy. They had taken away of her chance to play with children her own age, they had taken her sense of community, they had taken away her right to be acknowledged by anyone she passed during the day. All for the unforgiveable crime of being born.

He could not let those traditions take more from her. Not now, not after that woman had driven Aloy away when she had just tried to help gather berries.

Rost came to a decision. So long as it posed no danger, he could not in good conscience take away something that she had made hers. He just hoped that he would not live to regret his decision.

He watched her as she sat on the house’s entrance stairs and frowned. Her hands were moving back and forth in strange directions as though she were attempting to gently swat something away.

_What was she doing?_

Aloy was fascinated. The device was projecting more purple light, the spider-web dome surrounding her as before, as well as new shapes. There was one in the centre of her vision, what appeared to be boat standing on one end with three curved lines on its right. When Aloy pressed the icon, moving her hand up, the volume emitted by the device increased. When she pressed the icon, moving her hand down, the volume decreased.

She swatted the icon to the side and started to investigate the others when Rost, reaching through the intangible web of light, held out a small hunting bow.

‘Take your bow,’ he said firmly.

As Aloy took the weapon in her hand, the purple light surrounded it and letters appeared above it.

_BOW._

‘… Bow,’ she said aloud.

‘Enough muttering to that plaything,’ Rost said harshly, ‘We descend to the valley now. Follow.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want something difficult to distract yourself with, try describing a volume icon from the point of view of a cave girl.  
> The next chapter should be the last one with child Aloy.  
> If you liked this, feel free to comment.


	4. Children can only be children for as long as they believe the world to be a fair, decent place

Aloy had never been this far from the house before. The flimsy looking wooden building that Aloy and Rost called home was situated high up in the mountains, overlooking the range and the valleys. Aloy loved it there, it felt like she was living in the very top of the world. However, she had never been this far low. She had never realised just how tall the mountains looked when you were at the bottom. The small streams from the top of the cliffs had now become wide, rushing rivers, creating a constant cacophony of sound.

The trees were numerous and were accompanied by sporadic patches of red grass tall enough to cover Aloy, even when standing at full height.

Aloy loved the tall grass as it was the same colour as her hair. It was though no matter what the Tribe people thought, the land itself thought that she belonged here.

It was clear that they were not the only people to have been here as there were many signs of human activity. The path that they were now walking on had clearly been deliberately with scattered stones and gravel. Small wooden fences occasionally bordered the paths and, whenever the path ended at a stream or river, they would cross wooden bridges, held together with ropes and metal cables.

So, there were signs of human activity, but no humans. Why?

The warm sunlight bounced off the early morning mist, creating an almost ethereal glow. Aloy waved her free hand through the mist, playing with the long shadows her fingers cast as they pierced through the cloud.

The world was beautiful.

‘Knock it off,’ Rost said, without breaking stride, ‘The wilds can be dangerous, Aloy. You will need to stay close and do as I say.’

‘I know,’ Aloy replied petulantly, lowering her hand, nonetheless. Her other, dominant, hand was carrying the bow, now used to the weight. She was also carrying a quiver of arrows on her back. While she knew how to shoot, Rost teaching her since she could walk, she had never carried them outside their home before now.

She felt like a real hunter.

‘Now, you’re still scratched up from that fall you took yesterday, so let’s start here.’ Rost reached into a pocket and produced a small leather bag, tightened with a drawstring. He handed it to Aloy. ‘Take this medicine pouch, and I’ll show you how to fill it. See this plant, over here?’ Rost knelt down and gestured to a small pink plant. It had a flat base with tendrils of green leaves coming out of it. Growing out of the base were long stems with small, pink berries sticking to them. ‘This is called Salvebrush,’ Rost continued before grabbing a stem and gently picking the berries off of it, being careful not to crush them with his mighty hands. He then gestured for her to do the same. ‘Come now, Aloy, your turn. Just be gentle so as not to damage the plant. We want it to grow more berries so we never destroy something when there is no need. So, gather some berries in your pouch.’ Aloy was now a little nervous. She knew that since the plant was exposed to the elements and at the bottom of the valley, it must be hardy but, after having told to be careful, she had a horrifying image of lightly touching it and causing it to instantly crumble into dust.’ After what felt like an eternity, she finally mustered the courage to pick the berries, very please to notice absolutely no crumbling into dust from anything present. ‘Now eat the berries,’ Rost instructed.

Aloy put and the small berries in her mouth and chewed. ‘Bleh,’ she complained. The taste was akin to a cabbage that had gone bad and was so intense she could feel a stinging in her back teeth.

‘They may taste bitter,’ Rost said sympathetically, ‘But they can save your life. They contain properties that trigger your body’s ability to heal. While I do not claim to understand how they work, whenever a wounded person eats them, their injuries will heal faster than they would without them. That’s another lesson for you: just because you don’t understand something does not mean that you can’t use it. Always keep your pouch full of medicinal berries, flowers, and plants.’ He looked her straight in the eye as he spoke, making sure that the lesson was understood.

‘Where are we?’ Aloy asked.

Rost shrugged. ‘This valley is just a part of All-Mother’s Embrace.’ It seemed no big thing to him.

‘Embrace?’ she questioned.

Rost couldn’t resist a small smile creeping onto his face. Aloy never ran out of questions. While sometimes he wished she was less curious about certain taboo subjects, he never tired of watching her figure out the world she lived in. ‘The Nora tribe watches these lands, and keep out the most dangerous machines – usually.’ There was a noticeable pause before the last word. ‘Further downriver, we’ll find a herd of machines, and I will teach you how to hunt.’

‘Are they dangerous?’

‘All machines are dangerous, Aloy,’ he said seriously, ‘Their power must be respected. But I will be beside you.’

The trees started to thin slightly as they climbed a small hill. Just before they reached the top, Rost stopped and crouched, motioning for Aloy to do likewise. ‘Stay low,’ he hissed, ‘A machine’s coming. Follow me into the tall grass and stay low.’

Aloy did as he instructed and followed him into the grass. Rost pointed down and, at the bottom of the hill, not even three metres away, she could see the machines!

They were smaller than she imagined, maybe half the size of Rost, if that. In some ways they resembled oversized, metal turkeys, with two rather tiny legs holding up a seemingly oversized body. Behind them, they dragged a thick, metre-long tail, probably to balance out the equally long neck. However, it was the head that drew Aloy’s attention.

There was no mouth, no nose, no ears, nothing that indicated life. Just a single large glass eye in the centre of the face, shining with the same kind of light that Aloy had seen in the ruins of the Metal World. It was unnatural.

Most of the machine was black metal with cables running up and down the body but a sturdier looking white metal covered the head and abdomen, not unlike some kind of body armour.

However, while they were certainly fascinating to look at, they were somewhat smaller than Aloy had expected. Rost had told her stories of titanic metal monsters that could shake the trees with every step. These looked like they would barely leave an imprint in the grass with those tiny feet. Maybe they were baby machines? She voiced that to Rost.

‘No, Aloy,’ he replied, ‘Machines are born fully formed and take many shapes and sized. Machines such as these are called Watchers. You must learn to avoid their gaze, if you are to survive in the wilds. While they are small, they are lightning fast and in packs such at this, they can be lethal. Listen close and do what I do.’ One of the machines was getting closer, so close that had some mad impulse overtaken her, Aloy could have reached out to touch its metal skin.

Obviously, she had the sense not to do such a blatantly stupid thing.

‘Stay still.’ Rost whisper was so quiet that Aloy had to strain to hear. ‘Wait for it to pass.’ The machine, oblivious to their presence, marched past the long grass. ‘Now keep low and follow me across the trail to that tall grass.’ Still crouching, Rost left the grass and shuffled to the next section of grass, making a deliberate decision to move slowly. Aloy mimicked his movements, resisting the urge to substitute speed for stealth. After all, if Rost had wanted to, it would have been easy for him to move faster.

‘Good,’ he praised when she reached him. ‘They are drawn to fast movement and loud noises, so the slower you are and the quieter you are, the less likely they will notice you. Wait.’ Another Watcher approached their location before passing them. Once it was gone, Rost spoke again. ‘I think that’s the last of them. Let’s move on.’ He stood upright. ‘You did well, Aloy. They didn’t see or hear you. Now stay close. That herd should be just ahead.’ Aloy rose to her feet and followed Rost down the path.

Sudden movement caught her eye and Aloy turned to see a boy, older than her, climbing a cliff. There were several wooden shafts and ropes dug into the rock to aid in climbing but he seemed to ignore them. The climbing aids were part of what Rost had called brave trails (Rost had also told Aloy that they were dangerous and if he ever caught her on them without his permission, he would make her sleep outside in the snow without any protection from the cold). The boy was moving so quickly it almost looked as though he were running straight up the sheer wall. ‘Who’s that?’ she asked, pointing at him. Rost followed her finger and frowned.

‘Ignore him.’

‘But why is he up there?’ Rost was about to answer but something so shocking happened that he lost all power of speech.

Upon reaching the top of the cliff, the boy shuffled over to a fallen tree that acted as a bridge to the opposite cliff. However, halfway across, he looked down at them… and he _smiled!_

‘He’s smiling at us!’ Aloy was delighted at his seeming disregard for proper behaviour.

‘Teeeeeeb!’ The voice echoed out through the valley. The boy looked off in the direction of the sound. ‘Get back where you belong! Teeeeeeb! Where are you?’ The boy, ‘Teb’, as she assumed his name to be, looked embarrassed and hurried after the voice.

‘Ignore him,’ Rost said harshly, ‘We are outcasts, and he is of the tribe.’

‘Maybe he doesn’t like the tribe,’ Aloy said, silently adding that she wouldn’t blame him.

‘Then he is a fool.’ There it was. Once again, Rost was showing nothing but devotion to a group of people that did nothing but shun them. It infuriated her! Seeing her face and eager to head off an argument before it started, all Rost said was, ‘Let’s find that herd. Follow.’

The continued down the hill and crossed a stream, using a small wooden bridge. Upon reaching the shore, Rost stopped again. ‘There, see them? These are called “Striders.”’

The stream doubled around the shore and across another stretch of water and a larger bride were the Striders.

Now this was more like it. Unlike the small Watchers, the Striders’ size was more akin to what she had expected. Like the striders, they mainly black metal with the white metal armour covering what Aloy assumed were vulnerable areas.

Standing on four powerful looking legs, the Striders were almost as tall as Rost and maybe a little longer than the distance between his hands when both his arms were outstretched. Their shapes somewhat resembled an oversized dog with truly _massive_ heads that almost made up an entire third of their bodies. Their heads had two eyes, shining like the one that the Watcher had, but smaller.

The only other thing of note was what appeared to be a yellow canister on top of its haunches.

Rost approached the larger bridge and loudly yelled at the machines, ‘ _YAAAH!!!_ ’, causing them to scatter and run off away from them.

‘Why did you chase them off?’ Aloy asked.

‘To show you how some machines startle easily if they detect you, and run away,’ said Rost. ‘They are best approached by stealth. Don’t worry. We’ll catch up with them further down the valley. You’ll see. Now I want you to go down to the stream find some rocks that fit the cup of your hand.’

‘Why?’

If there was a word Aloy used more than ‘why’, Rost was unaware of it. ‘Do as I say Aloy and gather the rocks. I will show you how to use them.’ Aloy scrambled down to the stream bed and collected six smooth pebbles large enough to fit comfortably in her hand. She showed Rost her bounty and he said they were adequate for the job before setting off again, this time with some speed.

It took all the power that Aloy could send to her little legs to keep up with his speed and when they finally stopped, it was all she could do to breathe. They had stopped at the top of a small ravine overlooking the herd of Striders. They appeared to be grazing, just like animals. Some even had their heads in the stream as though they were drinking from it. They were accompanied by three or four Watchers, their massive eyes constantly searching.

‘All right,’ Rost said, ‘It’s time to throw some rocks.’

‘But rocks can’t hurt machines!’ Aloy protested. ‘... right?’

‘No, but they can distract them, draw them into traps…’ Rost nodded at the nearest Watcher to them. It was keeping a distance from the herd, almost like it was watching over the other machines. ‘Like that Watcher over there. It must be dealt with, or it will warn the herd and send them running before we get in range.’

‘Warn them? How?’ Aloy was confused. Machines couldn’t talk… could they?

‘The Machines speak to each other, Aloy,’ Rost replied, ‘Unless they are first silenced.’ He shuffled further down while motioning for Aloy to stay. ‘Now you stay here on the ridge. On my signal, throw rocks and draw the Watcher over to me.’ He climbed down the short drop before hiding himself in more red grass.

The nearest Watcher was getting closer to Rost but still too far for him to approach it without being immediately spotted. Rost whistled to Aloy and she threw one of her pebbles, the stone landing just a metre away from where he had hidden.

The _instant_ the rock hit the ground, the machine’s blue eye immediately turned yellow and it spun around to face the direction of the sound. The Watcher’s movements were no longer passive, it was actively searching for the sound… searching for Rost. It was getting closer with every second.

Aloy was terrified. Had she made a mistake? Had she just gotten Rost kille- Rost immediately annihilated the machine, digging his massive boar spear straight through its now darkened eye.

The machine went limp, collapsing to the ground with a thoroughly un-dramatic _thud._ The other machines were too far down the ravine to have noticed anything.

‘Come, girl,’ Rost called up to her. ‘It’s safe now.’ Aloy scrambled down the drop before crouching next to the dead machine. ‘Now I’m going to show you how to harvest the kill.’ Rost knelt next to her. ‘Watchers don’t have many varied parts but their metal pieces are perfect for making shards. I mainly use them for arrowheads, but I do know that people also use them as trade good. Their cables are also very useful as they are stronger than the ropes we can make on our own. As you can see from what I’m wearing, I use machine cables to stick my armour together. Obviously, we won’t have time to make arrows right now, this close to the herd but I’ll show you how to make them when we return home. Right now, we’ll just focus on harvesting.’

Rost showed Aloy the best way to dismantle the machine carcass to its most useable parts without damaging them. After a few minutes of trying, her hands were able to nimbly detach what she wanted, and she soon had a respectable pile of shards and wires.

Rost continued to talk. ‘It’s always good to have resources like these so, when you know you’re safe, you can craft arrows on the move. You’ll never run out of arrows, if you know how to craft what you need. The shafts can be made from Ridge Wood which, as you can see, grows in abundance.’ Rost pointed to a small, skinny tree which seem to consist of a few wooden sticks jutting upwards. He was right, Aloy looked around and could dozens of them throughout the clearing and could remember seeing many more as had they travelled today.

‘Now you know what arrows are made of, I’m going to get you to put them to use. Follow.’ Rost stood up and Aloy eagerly followed him. _This_ was what she had been looking forward to.

They entered some more tall grass and approached the still unaware herd. They were now close to three peacefully grazing Striders.

‘It’s time to make your first kill, Aloy,’ Rost said, proud to be here for this important milestone. He remembered teaching Alana like this… NO! Don’t remember that. Stay in the moment. _Aloy_ is all that matters now.

Aloy didn’t notice his hesitation, too caught up in her excitement. She never noticed as he quickly regained his composure and continued on as though nothing had happened. ‘As I told you, that is a Strider. One of the weaker Machines. But even a weak Machine can kill a hunter -- if she is careless.’ He looked pointedly at her. Aloy frowned at him. She _wasn’t_ careless.

He gently grabbed her chin and directed her so she was once again facing the machine. ‘You must study your prey, Aloy,’ he said. ‘Its hide is thick, but there are spots where it is-vulnerable -- like its eye. Can you guess another?’

Aloy peered at it, taking everything in-

_VIRRRRRRRR!_

The device came to life. Once again, the web of purple light that only she could see was surrounding her. Like the relics of the Metal World, the Strider was now shining with the same light.

She could see the cable inside the machine, now illuminated with vivid purple, running through its body. But there was more. The cannister nestled on its haunch was also shining a brilliant yellow.

She looked at the canister and a picture that looked like a flame appeared next to it. Accompanying the image was text: _FLAMMABLE._ Like the lights, only Aloy could see the picture and text.

‘The cannister on its back…’ Aloy began hesitantly, ‘Is that a weakness?’

‘Yes!’ Rost was visibly surprised. Impressed, but surprised. ‘How did you guess that?’

‘The device, it showed me!’ Aloy said excitedly.

‘That plaything?’ Rost demanded, ‘Stop playing games.’ He pointed at the machine. ‘Now take down that Strider. Target the eye, or the canister. And if it charges, be ready to roll out of the way.’

This was it. Aloy had fired hundreds of arrows before. _Thousands_ of arrows. But only at painted targets outside their house. Never at anything that could charge her, crushing her flat if she missed.

But Rost was watching her and she knew that he would _never_ put her in harm’s way.

The Strider wasn’t facing at her, so the eyes were not going to be an easy shot. The cannister would do. She knocked her arrow to the bow, drew back the string and, after one breath, two, she released.

The arrow flew and the cannister exploded. The other two Striders immediately took flight but the one she had wounded furiously turned to face her, not yet dead-

_THWACK!_

Aloy’s second arrow embedded itself straight into its left eye, killing it instantly.

She had done it. Her first kill. She turned to Rost, her eyes shining with excitement, but he looked down at her coolly, no praise coming from his face.

Why was like that? What had she done? She hadn’t… _Oh,_ yes, that was it.

She approached the machine carcass and knelt down next to it before harvesting her kill, leaving nothing to waste.

‘You did well today,’ Rost said and to Aloy, that was worth the applause of millions. Rost said she did well! ‘But there is still so much to learn. Tomorrow we train again.’ Aloy looked up at him, her eyes shining, and he was going to say-

Someone screamed! The sound came from around the bend in the cliff face they were standing next to.

‘That boy!’ Aloy shouted, ‘The one running the brave trails!’

‘Follow, Aloy!’ Rost yelled, already running in the direction of the scream, ‘Quick!’

The two sprinted through the rushing stream, paying no attention to the icy water, and across the stony path. Hugging the stream bed, they rushed around the bend until they came to a small precipice. The crouched at the edge and looked out at the clearing. The rest of the herd of Striders and Watchers that Rost had scattered were grazing in the clearing, paying no attention to what was happening.

It was the boy. He was clutching to cliff wall opposite them, having clearly fallen from the brave trail. He was holding on with one hand- no! He fell, hitting the cliff wall once before hitting the ground hard with a sickening thud.

Immediately, the passive blue lights of the Watchers changed to the alert yellow as they started to investigate the source of the noise. The boy had been lucky enough to land near some cover that he was able to crawl behind, a low shrub and some rocks, but it would not be long until the machines found him.

Rost sighed. ‘I can do nothing. It’s only a matter of time before the machines find that boy and kick him to death. But if I shoot, it will cause a stampede and it will trample him.’

But Aloy wasn’t listening to him. She raised her hand to touch the device and the purple lights appeared with the now familiar _VIRRRRRRRR!_ The invisible web that only she could see spread out far across the clearing. While the Striders were still docile, the Watchers were searching, and the behaviour was causing new information to appear. Columns of blue arrows appeared in front of each of the searching machines, leading out away from them. Aloy watched, fascinated, as the Watchers followed the arrows’ paths perfectly. It wasn’t random, the arrows were highlighting their paths.

‘I can see the paths they take!’ she gasped.

‘Stop telling stories,’ Rost snapped.

‘I’m not!’ Aloy protested, ‘I can sneak through.’

She took a small step forward only to be yanked back by Rost. ‘You will _not,_ ’ he growled. She turned back to face him, looking him straight in the eye and what he saw in her face chilled Rost to his core.

She wriggled out of his grip and lunged off the precipice. Rost reached out to pull her back but only succeeded in grabbing hold of her bow. ‘Aloy!’ he hissed as she tumbled down the steep hill. He couldn’t call out again for fear of alerting the machines.

Aloy landed in an undignified heap at the bottom but was unharmed. She looked back up the hill at Rost before defiantly turning her back on him to assess the situation. Between her and the wounded boy was just under one hundred metres and some unfriendly looking machines. Thankfully, it wasn’t empty space, or the endeavour would have been doomed from its inception.

There were clumps of tall grass, bushes, ruined walls, and rocks filling the space.

She would need to move slowly and quietly without letting them see her. ‘I can do this,’ she said to herself. She realised that a column of arrows was leading straight to where she was huddled, so she quickly shuffled forward to hide herself in some grass just _seconds_ before a Watcher trampled over where she had been.

Looking ahead, she could see that her next available shelter was a crumbing stone wall. Hiding behind it, she could see two columns of arrows right in front of the wall. She waited for the two Watchers to walk past her, following their respective columns before moving again.

She continued this dangerous game of cat and mouse, for nearly five minutes until she finally reached the boy, clutching his left knee so tightly his fingers were white.

‘Hey, she whispered, tapping him on the shoulder. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw her. He opened his mouth to speak but she raised a stern finger to her own lips to silence him. ‘Can you walk?’ she asked, pointing at his knee.

He nodded, despite the obvious pain he was in.

‘Follow me,’ she instructed before turning back from where she came. She could see that Rost had moved further along the edge of the precipice to where it was much lower. He would easily be able to reach down and pull them up.

All they had to do was get to him.

It was all Teb could do to stop screaming out, the pain was so intense that his knee felt like it was on fire. He knew that he had not broken it as he could still wiggle his toes, but he had seriously injured it, it was just unclear how serious.

His options were limited. He had a hurt knee, no weapons, and was surrounded by machines that would kill him the instant they figured out where he was.

Teb was certain that he was going to die-

Something touched his shoulder. ‘Hey.’ Teb spun around in terror only for that terror to turn into confusion. It was a small girl. No, wait, it was _the_ small girl, the girl he saw watching him on the brave trails. How was she here?!

He was about to ask her that when she silence him with a gesture so stern that even High Matriarch Lansra would have been cowed by it.

‘Can you walk?’ she asked in a low whisper, to which he nodded, still not currently capable of speech. For a girl clearly no older than ten, she was scary. ‘Follow me,’ she said, grabbing his hand and, to his shock and horror, she started to lead him out of the small safety provided by his cover. With few options left to him, he followed the girl.

She led him straight ahead for several metres before, seemingly at random, banking left and ducking behind a tree just before a Watcher trampled over where they would have been.

‘How are you doing this?’ he hissed, not even asking her, just the world in general. ‘How is this possible.’

It wasn’t a fluke. No less than four times did the strange girl lead him through the herd, somehow knowing exactly where the machines would be and how to avoid them. Had she been blessed by All-Mother somehow? No, of course not, that was impossible. She was an outcast, cut off from All-Mother. Right?

Eventually, the made it across the clearing where a massive man, built like a bear, was waiting to pull them up out of the clearing.

Rost pulled Aloy up and felt his heart start beating again. She was safe… as was the boy. How had she done that? He handed her bow back to her and gently cupped her cheek with his hand, his fingers brushing that piece of metal on the side of her face.

‘So,’ he mused, ‘No mere plaything.’ The Nora teachings said that everything from the Metal World was cursed and yet it had saved her life and that of the boy now struggling to stand. He was about to lead her away when the boy spoke.

‘Wait…’ he pleaded, favouring his non-injured leg. ‘All-Mother bless that girl. Bless you both.’ He started to approach Aloy-

‘ _Boy!_ ’ Three Nora men approached them.

The boy hobbled so he was facing them. ‘She… she saved me,’ he protested, ‘I just wanted-’

‘BOY!’ the man repeated, ‘Seal your lips.’ The boy looked like he wanted to argue but he flailed under the man’s glare and reproachful tone and looked down at his feet, shame etched all over his face. ‘They are outcasts both,’ the man snarled, looking at Rost who was now standing in front of Aloy. ‘And she,’ the man was now looking straight at Aloy, ‘is Motherless.’ He then spat at the ground. Aloy tried to push past Rost to get at the man but he held her back. The man looked at his companions. ‘Come now,’ he said, ‘Back to Mother’s Heart.’

He grabbed the boy by his wrist and jerked him forward. ‘And _you_ ,’ he hissed before striking him at the side of his head before dragging him back with them down the path.

Only when they were out of eyesight did Rost let go of Aloy. ‘That boy should not have spoken to us,’ he said grimly, ‘It is against tribal law.’ Aloy did not respond to him but she did not have to. Her rage was painted across her face for all the world to see. It broke his heart to see that kind of fury on the face of a child who was not yet even ten but there was nothing he could say that would calm her heart, so he did not even try. ‘We’ll go home now,’ he said awkwardly.

He tried to take her hand but pulled away from him. ‘I know the way,’ she all but snarled.

‘Seal your lips, boy.’ Aloy venomously echoed the words of the Nora hunter. ‘Seal your lips.’ She was walking way ahead of Rost, rebuffing all of his attempts to talk to her until they trod on home in painful silence. She angrily kicked a stone, watching it soar before landing in the stream.

What gave that man the right to look at her that way? To spit at her? To call her ‘Motherless’? Why didn’t Rost-

_SMACK!_

She felt the impact right over her left eye. She was stunned and in pain. What had happened? She clutched at her face as blood started to seep from the cut.

‘Stay away, No-Mother!’ She looked up. Standing above her, at the top of a nearby cliff, were the children she had seen picking berries the day before. The one leading the pack, the blonde boy ‘Bast’, had _thrown a rock at her face!_ The other children laughed and Bast picked up another rock. He threw it at her but this time she was ready and, without flinching, she caught it, glaring at the boy.

Unperturbed, he found another rock.

Aloy’s fist tightened around her rock and she hurled at the boy with enough force to cave his smug face in-

_THWACK!_

Something knocked the rock off course. She spun around and saw Rost, lowering his bow. He had shot her rock out of the air to protect a boy that had thrown a rock at her face unprovoked. Tears mingled with the blood seeping down her face.

_How could he?_

Rost shook his head. ‘Aloy, we cannot.’

‘Children, away from there!’ It was the woman with the nice voice. The one that recoiled from Aloy when she tried to introduce herself. ‘Back to picking berries!’ The children followed after her except for the blonde boy who smirked savagely at her with the smile of one who knows that there will never be consequences for his actions.

With a final sneer, he followed the other children away.

Aloy fell to her knees, no longer even trying to stem the bleeding. While there had been some tears before, now she was full on, red in the face, sobbing.

What had she done to deserve this? Why could people shun her, spit at her, hurl rocks at her face without anyone stopping them?

Aloy may have only been six years old but, looking back, this was the moment where she decided that her childhood ended. Children can only be children for as long as they believe the world to be a fair, decent place, and she now knew that that was not the case.

Not for her anyway.

Rost knelt down in front of her. ‘You’re bleeding.’ He rummaged in his pockets until he produced a foul-smelling poultice. ‘Here,’ he said, pressing it against her cut, ‘Hold still, I’ll get it.’

Aloy stopped crying. She knew that no matter how much he loved her, Rost was, in many ways, no different from the rest of them. He would never protect her against the vile nature of the Nora, only excuse it, and she knew that she would never again shed tears or show weakness in front of the enemy.

She loved Rost, but in this matter, he also the enemy.

‘Why?’ The snarl escaped her mouth with such venom she wanted to spit. Rost tried to shush her but she would have none of it. ‘Why am I an outcast?’

Rost looked pained. ‘Aloy…’ he said helplessly, ‘This is not the time.’

‘Who was my mother?’

‘I’ve told you before, that is not for us to know. You were just a new-born when the Matriarchs brought you to me.’ He wiped away the blood off her face with a wet rag.

Aloy lunged onto that piece of information. ‘So, the Matriarchs, they know?’

Rost groaned. ‘It’s not so simple! Aloy,’ he said, trying to make her understand. ‘We. Are. Outcasts.’ He emphasised every word.

‘So how do I make them tell me?’

‘The Matriarchs?’ Rost considered for a moment. ‘There is a way, perhaps-’

‘So, tell me,’ Aloy interrupted, not letting him get away this time.

‘It will be dangerous.’

‘How!?’

‘It would take years of training,’ Rost argued

‘I don’t care.’ Aloy pushed away his poultice and stood up, looking him in the eye, not flinching when the cut reopened. ‘How do I do it? Tell me!’

Rost sighed before finally relenting. ‘The Proving, the tribe’s rite of passage, held every year. Those who pass become braves, but to the one who wins - The Matriarchs grant a boon.’

‘A boon?’ Were there any loopholes that would work against her?

‘Whatever the winner wants,’ Rost clarified.

‘Then I’ll do it.’ There was no hesitation, no doubt, no fear in her voice. ‘Whatever it takes,’ she vowed, ‘I’ll win the proving.’

Rost smiled sadly at her. ‘I see.’ Like Aloy had realised just seconds before, he knew that she had left childhood behind without so much as a backwards glance. ‘We best get started then.’

Aloy’s eyes widened. He was going to help her?

‘Your training will be hard, and it will take years.’

Despite everything, the pain, the rage, the injustice of the world, Aloy grinned, realising that she had been wrong to consider him the enemy. Rost was going to help her. ‘Start training? Yes!’ she crowed, ‘Follow!’

She turned and ran the whole way back to their home, ready for anything that the world could throw at her next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this chapter ended up being a lot longer than originally planned. There was just so much I felt that needed to be said so I couldn't just breeze through it. For anyone who think Aloy is being too hard on Rost, remember that she is a child and just had a very traumatic experience. I picked the aggressive option simply because I couldn't see a six year old child who had been assaulted without provocation thinking that turning the other cheek was an option. I'm not always going to pick the agressive option but for this, it felt appropriate.  
> If you liked this, please remember to leave a comment and I hope to have a new chapter soon.


	5. The Last Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is (hopefully) Aloy's last day as an outcast and she must prepare as Rost ominously warns that she will be tested.

‘Rost… Rost!... Rooost!!!’ Aloy fumed. Of all the time that he could have gone missing, he had to pick just _two_ days before the Proving? No other days were free? He had to be somewhere. He wouldn’t have just left.

He _couldn’t_ have just left.

She left the wooden hut they shared in the mountains and ran past the perimeter wall to protect them from any machines brave enough to come up this high. She followed the mountain path for a short while, finding the source of her irritation standing at the precipice, looking out over the valley that was the All-Mother’s Embrace, looking like a king surveying his realm as opposed to the outcast that he was.

Next to him was a zip-line that ran down incline to the ground below. Aloy and Rost would use that to quickly descend to the Embrace. Sadly, Aloy had yet to find a way to make it work in the opposite direction and save herself a long, arduous climb up every evening.

‘He’s just... standing there. What’s going on with him?’ she muttered to herself before jogging over to him.

‘Aloy,’ he said, not sounding surprised to see her, ‘You’re here.’ His voice and expression were carefully controlled, giving nothing away. He might have been pleased to see her or angry, but she had no way of knowing.

‘Did you want to be alone?’ she asked hesitantly.

‘No. We must speak.’ Rost looked at her for a long while with that same unreadable expression before finally continuing. ‘I’ve been thinking about your training, Aloy. You’ve learned to hunt, learned to survive.’ He sighed. ‘But I fear there’s a lesson I failed to teach you. Would you learn it now?’

‘Of course.’ Her answer was instantaneous. ‘I’ll always learn what you have to teach.’

‘There has been some... trouble, recently. It affords an opportunity to learn this lesson, but it will be dangerous. You must come prepared… or you wall die.’ He paused a moment to allow the gravity of his words to sink in. ‘Descend into the Embrace and hunt until you have gathered the Parts for Fire Arrows.’

‘Fire arrows? What kind of trouble are we talking about here?’ A lifetime with Rost had taught Aloy that he was not a man to exaggerate but, with the confidence that only an eighteen-year-old can possess, she was pretty sure she could handle whatever “trouble” was waiting for her.

Rost ignored the question and continued as though she had not interrupted. ‘Once you have the Parts, you will meet me there,’ he pointed across the valley, to the North, ‘At the gate beyond the Village of Mother’s Heart.’

‘We’re going to the edge of the Embrace?’

‘Yes,’ Rost said sharply, ‘Now be on your way.’

‘Alright, that’s enough,’ Aloy snapped, ‘What’s bothering you?’

‘I am fine,’ Rost said evasively.

Aloy refused to accept that answer, pressing on. ‘Are you worrying about what happens... after the Proving?’

Rost shrugged. ‘What happens is clear. You will be accepted as one of the tribe, and I will still be an outcast, to be shunned.’ His face was so stoic it could have been carved from stone.

‘Look, Rost,’ Aloy began, ‘Even if –’

‘There is much to do, Aloy. We will discuss this later.’ His tone indicated that this topic of conversation was not a welcome one.

‘Is there anything else you want me to do while I’m down in the Embrace?’ she asked.

‘Odd Grata (Aloy smothered a snort upon hearing the name) might be out of food by now,’ Ros said, ‘If you find the time, I would consider it a favour if you could hunt her a week’s worth of meat for her. If you don’t mind.’

Aloy scoffed. ‘I wouldn’t mind, _if_ she’d say thanks just once.’

‘Aloy,’ Rost said with a sigh, ‘Grata follows the law. Her silence towards us is honourable, _not_ an insult.’

‘If you say so,’ said a thoroughly unconvinced Aloy. ‘Okay, fine, I’ll go get her some supplies.’ Aloy didn’t want to argue with him. ‘But I’m also going to pay Karst a visit.’

At the mention of the name ‘Karst’, Rost looked positively disgusted. ‘Aloy, that man breaks the law every time he speaks to you.’

‘And we all know just how important the law is to me,’ Aloy said, not bothering to hide the sarcasm. ‘And I’m glad he does,’ she added, ‘I want to buy a Tripcaster, and no other trader will sell to those _awful_ outcasts.’

Rost did not press the point. He too did not wish to fight. ‘Stock it with ammunition, then,’ he said, adding, ‘You’ll find use for that weapon tonight.’

‘That’s sufficiently ominous,’ Aloy replied, ‘I’ll see you at the North Gate.’

Rost’s seemingly sour mood bothered Aloy. Rost was never one to wear his feelings on his sleeves so something had to be really bothering him. _If he thinks I’m gonna abandon him,_ she thought defiantly, _he’s wrong._

_The Embrace. For eighteen years, my whole life, I’ve never gone beyond this valley. That’ll change after the Proving. Two days. Two days until I get answers. Two days, and I’ll know who she was. And why I was cast out at birth. As if there could be an excuse for that._

Aloy looked in the direction of Mother’s Heart, the largest settlement of the Nora and venomously spat at the ground.

Aloy decided to tackle Grata’s problem first, leaving the rest of the day free for her own errands. It didn’t take her long to down a young doe as it stopped to drink at the creek. Aloy’s arrow had pierced through the eye, killing her instantly and efficiently, just as Rost had taught her.

_‘We will kill them, but we will_ never _hurt them.’_

Aloy slung her kill over her shoulder and made her way to Grata’s camp.

Odd Grata. Never had there been a woman more suited to her name. She had been an outcast for longer than Aloy had been alive. While Rost would never talk to her (of course Rost couldn’t break his precious law), he seemed to have a certain affection for the old woman, always making sure that she was fed when she became too feeble to hunt and that the area surrounding her camp was free of any machines or predators that might wish her harm. He would never say why he helped her, or even why she was made outcast in the first place, just that he owed her, whatever the hell that meant.

Aloy could hear Grata long before she saw her. The old woman was constantly praying to the All-Mother, preferring to talk to the air than to a person that could respond.

‘All-Mother,’ Grata crooned, her voice carrying through the valley, ‘I know, even when my belly and hands are empty, that you hold me in your Embrace.’

The wizened woman hunched over the fireplace that was next to her small shelter. During a particularly harsh winter, three years past, Aloy had spent a week out in that bitter cold, cutting down trees to build a small shelter to protect the woman from the chill. Of course, Grata never offered a word of thanks to her, instead loudly proclaiming that, once again, the All-Mother had blessed her with protection against the elements, almost as though the wood had neatly piled up and formed a dwelling of its own accord.

‘Hello, Grata,’ Aloy said, more out of habit, not really expecting a response, ‘I brought you a deer. She has plenty of meet so she should keep you going for a while.’

‘All-Mother!’ the old woman exclaimed, not even bothering to turn towards her visitor, ‘I hear your voice on the wind!’

‘I can’t,’ said Aloy, deadpan, ‘Maybe she’s just being really quiet and I’m not close enough to hear her.’

‘I would count your blessings upon my prayer beads, but I lost them atop the Eastern Overlook. My old bones are too worn to return.’

‘So it’s a trinket you need this time?’ Aloy muttered, hoping to catch the old crone into a response but, alas, it was not to be. The older woman remained silent. ‘Okay, I’ll meet you back you here when I find it. Although, why I even bother, I will _never_ know.’

While the Eastern Overlook wasn’t too far a journey, even a grumbling Aloy was forced to concede that the climb up the mountainside would have been too much for the older woman.

At the cliff edge was a moderately sized pavilion along with a massive firepit and unlit torches forming a circle around the area. There were also benches for sitting. Aloy knew that sometimes, the Nora came here for special religious ceremonies, although obviously she had not been permitted to attend.

However, that didn’t stop her from once secretly observing the Nora there while they performed one of their strange rituals. Naturally, being from doing something was the fastest way to get Aloy to do anything.

It had been an odd event and Aloy could still not determine its purpose: two young people, a man and a woman holding hands, joined one of the High Matriarchs under the pavilion while a crowd of others stood watching them. The woman wore a crown of flowers on her head. The High Matriarch spoke for a bit (although Aloy’s hiding place was too far for her to hear what was said) and then the man and woman kissed while the crowd cheered.

As far as Aloy was concerned, the whole thing had been a waste of time and being affectionate like that in public…? _Ew, no thank you._ Still, she would have liked to know what the whole thing had been about, if only to satisfy her curiosity.

Something reflecting the sunlight, breaking her out of her reverie. _Ah-ha!_ It was the prayer beads! Out in the open, on one of the benches. Aloy could see it now: Odd Grata, sitting on the bench while muttering nonsense to “All-Mother” (like there was actually such an entity). Finally, she gets bored of muttering her nonsense and gets up to leave, forgetting the beads, presumably in a hurry to get home and eat the food that a certain red-haired hunter had probably provided.

Aloy looked out at the view, the _spectacular_ view, and grudgingly admitted that she could see why Odd Grata would come here to pray. Standing here, Aloy truly felt like she was on top of the world.

‘You know, I wonder what bothers me more…’ Aloy said aloud, ‘That Grata always ignores me, or that, with all her talking to All-Mother, she’s never lonely?’ _Must be nice, not being lonely._

Instantly, Aloy felt a terrible knot of shame in her gut. Rost had always been there for her and she loved him for that. However, it didn’t change the fact that Aloy had never once had a single conversation with another woman.

Aloy quickly shook her head to clear her thoughts. She knew that if she spent too much time dwelling on such matters, they would be difficult to escape. She pocketed the beads, making a beeline for Odd Grata’s shelter, although she did stop to track and shoot two rabbits to bring with her. Aloy reckoned that, after the Proving, it might be difficult to fetch supplies for the other woman. After that, it was short five-minute jog before she got back to her fellow outcast.

Grata had not moved since Aloy had left, still hunched by the fire with her arms stretched up to the heavens as she prayed.

_There’s Grata. Alone with All-Mother, the only way she knows,_ Aloy mused as she approached.

‘Good news, Grata, once again, All-Mother has brought you some rabbits,’ Aloy said with a sardonic grin. ‘I found your prayer beads, too,’ she added, gently putting them by the shelter, knowing full well that the old woman would never directly take anything from her. ‘Just try not to lose them again.’

‘All-Mother!’ Grata intoned, and Aloy rolled her eyes, already knowing who was going to get all the credit for the errands. ‘Each morning I find your tears of joy specking the leaves, joy at the beauty of all you have made. See how I cry now with you in gratitude.’

Aloy couldn’t take it any longer, deciding to get on with the rest of her day’s tasks. ‘So you’ll cry for her, but you won’t speak to me? Fine. Guess that makes you the better outcast.’ Aloy made no effort to hide the bitterness in her voice. She turned to leave but was compelled to stop. ‘Grata,’ Aloy began, ‘I may not be around much for a while… I am going to run in the Proving tomorrow, and… I’m not really sure what’s going to happen after that.’

‘All-Mother, I thank you for the kindnesses you share.’

Aloy scoffed. ‘You know something? I genuinely do not know why I even bother.’ She started to walk away.

Grata continued to pray but her words froze Aloy to the spot. ‘When the Proving comes, in your great wisdom, may you give favour to a brave of generous heart.’ Grata did not turn around to face her guest. She could never directly address another outcast. But she _did_ turn her head just enough that Aloy could see her eyes and the tears of gratitude they contained.

‘Oh…’ Aloy didn’t know how to respond to that. ‘… um… I think I get what you’re saying,’ she managed to force past her suddenly constricted throat. ‘Goodbye Grata, for now.’

Aloy needed a distraction so she threw herself into completing Rost’s instruction: gather parts for fire arrows. She hunted some Grazers and Broadheads (lumbering, medium sized machines wide heads that they used to club any human that got too close, making them aptly names), collecting blaze, an inflammable liquid that they kept stored in the insides. With the smallest of sparks, the odourless liquid would immediately combust and, when used in conjunction with arrows, it could make for a formidable weapon.

Having made enough fire arrows, there was no putting it off any further. Aloy would have to venture down to Mother’s Cradle.

Mother’s Cradle was a small Nora fishing village in the southern corner of the Embrace. It rested on the southern shore of Searcher's Course River. The settlement had grown around a small natural lake fed by the river and eventually became the primary supplier of fish to all tribe members living in the Embrace.

Rost had taught Aloy how to fish with a rod and line but did not approve of her own way of gathering fish. That device she had found in the Metal World all those years ago had more uses than just storing information and tracking machines. When activated, it could detect any living creature withing its range and would cut through the water with its unnatural light, showing glowing silhouettes of the fish.

Provided they were near enough to the surface, it was a simple enough matter for Aloy to simply shoot them with her bow and swim out to collect them with her bare hands. Aloy couldn’t resist laughing at how Rost had grumbled the first time he had seen her do that, muttering something about ‘stupid playthings.’ It had been her turn to cook that night and he stubbornly refused to eat the offered fish… although Aloy had noticed his plate was mysteriously clean the next morning.

From what Aloy had gathered, Mother's Cradle was a popular settlement among those who wish to live within the security of the Embrace's walls but hoped to avoid the crowds in Mother's Heart, the main Nora settlement.

However, it had one primary source of interest that the larger village did not: mainly, a lack of surrounding walls. This meant that Aloy could venture right into a crowd of people with no difficulty whatsoever.

However, she could _not_ do so without attracting the whispers. Obviously, no-one could directly address her, no breaking the sacred rules, however, there are always workarounds for the pious hypocrite and if the Nora had a singular racial trait, it was pious hypocrisy.

‘Is it my imagine or has the air suddenly gone foul?’ a Nora woman loudly asked the gathered villagers.

‘It would sure be nice if _certain people_ stayed in their place,’ said another villager.

‘Hey, all!’ Aloy said brightly with a smile, ‘How are things?’ She turned to the first woman who had spoken. ‘Fia, how are the kids? Taim’s not still running amok, is he? He is? Oh, you know how kids are. Don’t know how you keep up with the little guy.’ She looked at the other villager. ‘Orn! Is the knee still playing up?’ She laughed when he glared at her silently. ‘Darn it, I almost got you there. You were about to speak! Ah well, I’ll get you next time. Kids, how you doing?’ This was directed at the small cluster of children that were doing their best to not look at her.

‘I CAN’T HEAR ANYTHING!’ the closest cried with her hands held tightly against her ears.

Aloy grinned wickedly. Having made her point, she proudly strode through to the far side of the settlement. Some way apart from the other dwellings (and prying eyes) was a large if somewhat ramshackle house.

This was Karst’s home.

While Aloy could not care less about what the Nora thought, she didn’t want to make life difficult for Karst, so she did him the courtesy of checking to make sure that no-one was watching. Satisfied that no-one was snooping, Aloy walked around to the entrance and knocked.

The door opened to reveal a thin, nervous looking man, reeking of cheap booze. His gaze was darting this way and that, looking for any nosy neighbours that could report his transgression.

‘Well, well, well, an outcast on my doorstep, Karst slurred sarcastically, ‘All-Mother protect me.’

Aloy scoffed slightly, amused at his nerves. ‘Surprised you saw me, the way you keep looking every other direction to make sure no one’s watching. Careful there, or you’ll sprain your neck.’

Karst laughed mockingly. ‘It’s always a pain in the neck when you show up, girl, one way or another.’

While Aloy might have enjoyed trading barbs for a while longer, it was getting late and she had to meet with Rost. ‘Last time I visited, you had a Tripcaster available for trade. Still got it?’

‘I do,’ Karst confirmed, ‘But you’d need to bring me a Scrapper Lens. What can I say?’ he added, smirking at Aloy’s reaction to the price. ‘Special weapons don’t come cheap.’

‘Oh. I can pay,’ Aloy said quickly, ‘Took down a Scrapper not long ago, stripped out the lens in perfect condition.’

‘I’ll be the judge of that,’ Karst said suspiciously, ‘Show me.’

Aloy handed him the part and despite his best efforts, he could not a single defect with the part that would permit him to ask for more. Slightly bitter at its pristine condition, Karst said, ‘Now that you’ve got a Tripcaster, practice how to use it in someplace else, all right? My life’s exciting enough without a bunch of Shock Wire booby traps to trip over.

‘Really? Could have fooled me.’

Karst did not deign to grace her with a verbal response, choosing instead to blow a raspberry at her.

‘Is there a reason why you re acting so cranky or did I just catch you on a good day?’

Karst shrugged. ‘Once you run the Proving and get made a brave, you’ll deal with traders in Mother’s Heart. Maybe I don’t like losing customers.’

‘How touching,’ Aloy said ironically, ‘Traders who don’t break the law and deal with outcasts, you mean?’

Karst nodded emphatically. ‘That’s right. Our days of crime will be behind us... so long as you keep quiet,’ he added sternly.

‘Are you worried I’m going to tell someone that you trade with outcasts?’ Aloy raised a bemused eyebrow at the thought of her ratting on anyone for breaking one of the Nora’s stupid rules.

‘I don’t think you’re the kind who talks,’ he conceded, adding, ‘But you never know.’

‘Well, you can stop worrying,’ Aloy said, ‘The secrets safe with me. ‘sides, who would I possibly tell?’ 

‘That’s fair enough. But I don’t mind hearing it.’

‘You know, you never said but why do you take the risk, trading with outcasts?’

Karst rolled his eyes at the question, having heard it many times in the past. ‘Every time, you ask. If a big, meaningful talk is what you’re after, move along.’

But Aloy was not to be deterred this time. ‘It’s because you used to be one, isn’t it?’

Karst looked like he was going to deny it but, not seeing the point, he shrugged. ‘Yeah. Got caught poking around one of the Metal Ruins out beyond the Embrace. Matriarchs said I was tainted and gave me five years.’

Five years seemed a steep penalty for simply walking around somewhere and Karst was pleased to see Aloy agree with him.

‘What did you see in the Ruins?’ Aloy asked curiously. Although no stranger to the ruins, having explored many of them over the years, she was always interested in hearing other peoples’ accounts of such places… if anyone else had not been superstitious enough to avoid them.

‘Nothing I could make sense of,’ Karst admitted, ‘After my shunning I tried living back in Mother’s Heart but…’ He sighed, ‘Everyone I knew had moved on, and there were so many people, everywhere I turned. I like it better out here.’

Aloy could empathise, she wasn’t sure she would like to be constantly surrounded by people if she did succeed at the Proving and win her spot in the tribe.

‘The only person I’ve ever told about our trades is Rost.’ Jokes aside, she didn’t want to scare Karst.

He snorted, ‘Yeah, well, not like he can turn me in, even if he wanted to. Law and duty sort of a man, that Rost.’ He said mockingly, ‘Honestly don’t know how you stand it.’

‘You really don’t know why he was cast out?’ she asked.

Once again, Karst rolled his eyes at another old question. ‘I’ve told you, no. I don’t think anyone knows what he did. But it must’ve been serious, because his term is for life.’

Aloy was disappointed but not surprised. If Karst had actually know, he probably would have told her years ago.

‘I guess that concludes our business.’

‘Good luck in the Proving,’ Karst said by way of goodbye. ‘Blessing of All-Mother and all that.’

The Tripcaster was a strange merging of a sling and a crossbow. While tricky to use, it was a tremendously useful took that could fire tripwires from a distance, ranging from simple traps designed to make the hunter’s quarry stumble, all the way to ones that would explode upon something touching the wire.

Given Rost’s grim warning, Aloy was confident that the weapon would receive use before the night was done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for the delay with this update. Work has been crazy but hopefully chapters should be more regular (of course by saying that, I have guaranteed that something big will immediatley happen to get in the way of my writing).

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, as the blurb said, this is my attempt at writing a full novelisation of this wonderful game. I love story based games but sometimes, I just want to enjoy the story without having to get to a specific point in the game. This is especially true with this game. However, since there does not appear to be an official novelisaiton in the works, if I want one, I have to write it myself.  
> This is going to be a mainly straight adaption of the source material, although I may add the occasional embellishment if I think it is necesary for the story in this new medium. Since i can't use all of Aloy's choices (Compassionate, agressive, and logical), I will try to use whatever I think will make a better story, rather than the choices I made when playing. If you have your heart set on a particular choice, however, feel free to mention it in the comments and I'll consider it.  
> Also, while numerous side quests are wonderful in an open world game, they aren't great for pacing in a novel, so I won't be including all of the missions in the game. I will mainly write the essential ones as well as ones that develop Aloy's character or the world in general. So, while we won't be seeing Aloy tracking down company mugs... ah, sorry, "Ancient vessels", we will definitely see her helping save Olin's family and so on.  
> I'm aware that this will be a long-term project so please be sure to let me know if you like or hate it or have any kind of reaction to it.


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